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Show TO PAY BONUS TO SOLDIERS? Britain Mpy Restore Custom Which for a Period Was a Recognized Proceeding. V,' i 1 1 there be a general issue of batta money at the conclusion of the present great war. and if so how much will It amount to? Doubtless the above question has occurred oc-curred to not a few old British soldiers sol-diers at the front, and to as many of the younger ones as have heard of the custom. Batta money is a gratuity which old-established old-established army usage has decreed shall be paid in certain circumstances to private soldiers and noncommissioned noncommis-sioned officers taking part In an exceptionally excep-tionally arduous campaign. It derives Its name from a Hindustani word meaning perquisities or wages, and its payment was originally confined to India. There have, ' however, been plenty of precedents for the payment of batta outside that country, one recent re-cent notable instance being In connection connec-tion with the Nile expedition for the relief of General Gordon, when Lord Wolseley insisted on the time-honored custom being observed as regarded the troops under his command, with the result re-sult that every man received $25 in cash soon after the conclusion of the campaign. Batta money, it may be of interest to note, is by immemorial custom paid in gold, and usually in new sovereigns, and there are frequently wild scenes in the garrison towns when the long-looked-for day arrives. The coins are dished out literally "dished out" to the men by companies, the recipients being paraded for the purpose on the barrack square, and the packages of gold served out to them from the round ration tins that are ordinarily used to draw the bread and meat In. |